Thursday Afternoon News Brief Page

An online memorial is growing for a Lancaster boy who was killed in a car crash earlier this week. The mother of seven-year-old Noah Whitmore created a Facebook group for those wanting to share memories, photos, and condolences to honor her son’s legacy. Nearly 150 people have posted on the site. Those wanting to share their condolences can do so on the Noah Whitmore Memoriam Facebook page. A direct link to their GoFundMe page is here:    https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-carly-benavides-and-family-after-loss-of-son-noah

 

Lawyers for the Tops mass shooter, Payton Gendron were in court again. Yesterday, they asked U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo to dismiss one of the 27 counts in his indictment — the hate-crime charge. Gendron carried out a racially motivated mass shooting that targeted Black people at a grocery store on May 14, 2022, killing 10 and injuring three.  It’s the last charge in the Federal indictment, and it specifically focuses on those who were not killed or injured by Gendron — but rather those who were in and around the store at the time of the shooting.  According to court documents, defense attorneys are arguing that the language used in the argument is too vague because it states that “Payton Gendron used a firearm to attempt to cause bodily injury to unnamed ‘Black people.’ And in court Wednesday, the defense stated that the term “Black people” is not sufficient in identifying a specific individual. Attorneys for Gendron went on to claim that there has to be a clearer identification of individuals — they included examples such as a name or initial. The prosecution stated that they did, in fact, identify a group: the 69 possible victims in and around Tops that day. A decision is forthcoming; however, even if Judge Vilardo rules in favor of the defense, the indictment still contains many other, more serious charges. In a separate motion, Gedron’s defense team, also attempted to throw out the use of the hate crimes act all together. They claimed that it was “unconstitutional” because he was already prosecuted by the New York State hate crime provision. In a decision dropped on Wednesday, Judge Vilardo denied the defense’s request to dismiss the indictment based on the claim of unconstitutionality.

 

The state will have a ban on residential brush burning from March 16 to May 14 due to the increased risk of wildfires. Since 2009, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has enforced the annual brush-burning ban to prevent wildfires and protect communities during heightened conditions for wildfires. When temperatures warm and the past fall’s debris and leaves dry out, wildfires can start and spread easily, further fueled by winds and a lack of green vegetation. Small backyard fire pits ad campfires less than three feet in height and four feet in length, width, or diameter are allowed, as are small cooking fires. People should never leave these fires unattended and must extinguish them. Burning garbage or leaves is prohibited year-round in New York State.

 

The state Attorney General’s Office has issued its report on a fatal officer-involved shooting in Canandaigua. The report says officers were justified in killing 31-year-old Brandon Zurkan during an encounter back in February 2023. Police tried to stop Zurkan while he was driving erratically and firing gunshots before crashing his vehicle into a curb. He got out of the vehicle with a weapon and wouldn’t drop it, leading to the officers opening fire.

 

From Monroe County Executive Adam Bello is rolling out a new initiative aimed at cutting food waste in schools. It is called The Food Waste Diversion Pilot Program and it’ll provide grants to districts to help them start or expand programs that focus on food waste reduction.   This plan is also designed to teach students about the importance of conserving food. Data from the Rochester Institute of Technology shows 63 million tons of food is wasted each year in the United States.

 

A former Canisius student was sentenced this week to a one year conditional release after posting a threat against the school. Prosecutors say the student who is not being identified because of his age at the time of the crime, posted a threat against the school on Snapchat on August 22nd. He pleaded guilty back on January 7th to making a threat of mass harm. He’s also required to receive counseling and complete sixty hours of community service.

 

Well, the end of what sure felt like a very long winter is finally in sight. Spring officially begins one week from today, March 20^th. Buffalo’s snowfall totals so far this winter have been below average. That’s according to data from the National Weather Service, which reports Buffalo had around 74 inches of total snowfall since December. The average is 94 inches. In case you’re curious, Attica got slammed with a little over 168 inches (last year’s total was 97) and in Batavia, we had 40 inches; last year, and we got 2 inches less than that. By the way, it was 32 years ago today when the Storm of the Century hit. It took the form of a powerful cyclone that brought record-breaking snow, strong winds, severe weather and devastation across the entire East Coast. Rochester received more than 20 inches of snow, while Syracuse got more than 40 inches. Temperatures dropped into the single digits. Strong winds gusting around 70 mph caused power outages and homes along the lakeshore were covered in inches of ice. Multiple schools, businesses, roads and airports were shut down. Sadly, the storm took 270 people’s lives across 13 states. This storm remains one of the most well-documented and studied weather events in history, ranking in the top three historical March snowstorms.

 

The start of spring is just a week away, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation is offering safety tips to hikers. The DEC says people should keep an eye on the weather and stop their hikes if conditions worsen. It is also recommended hikers carry a backpack with essentials such as food, water and extra batteries in case they get lost or have an emergency. Also, they should never travel alone and let someone know where they’re going. For more information, visit dec.ny.gov.

 

The Buffalo Sabres came up short of picking up a second straight win after a disappointing loss on the road. Tage Thompson, Josh Norris and Zach Benson each had a goal, but their team still fell to the Detroit Red Wings by a final score of seven to three at Little Caesars Arena last night. Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen faced 29 shots in the contest and stopped 22 of them. Buffalo’s next game is Saturday when they host the Vegas Golden Knights. The puck drops at 12:30 (face-off is at 12:30)/

 

Wildfires and other weather extremes are making cancer care more complicated.   A new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that patients recovering from lung cancer surgeries within an active wildfire zone needed longer hospital stays than those in areas with no fires. The longer stays could be attributed to the reluctance of health care providers to discharge patients because of the environment, including housing or safety issues. The study’s authors emphasized that the results show that wildfires pose broad threats to health, beyond smoke exposure.

 

A New York woman is suing the Girl Scouts after claiming their cookies contain heavy metals. The class action suit filed this week is asking for $5 million from the organization after a study showed that Girl Scout Cookies contained lead, arsenic, mercury and aluminum. The Girl Scouts released a statement last month saying, “heavy metals can occur naturally in soil” and they are not added to the cookies. An article in Forbes later confirmed that the FDA and USDA both allow residues of metals in foods at levels deemed non-harmful, and said, “there is no evidence that the cookies pose a health risk.”

 

A total lunar eclipse is going to be visible early Friday morning. Experts say a full moon, called a Blood Moon, will make the moon appear red during a total lunar eclipse that’s going to peak at 2:55 a.m. eastern Friday morning. The entire eclipse will start late Thursday night, lasting roughly six hours. It will be visible from the Earth’s western hemisphere, with prime viewing conditions across North and South America. Spectators don’t need anything special to watch the eclipse, but experts warn light pollution and weather conditions can impact the view and binoculars could help.